How Are Plants Named and

Classified?
 Plants are classified by their
similarities within their characteristics.
– Taxonomists compare flower patterns,
stem and leaf structures, life cycles,
genetic similarities and many other
characteristics.
 Theyare then grouped in specific
categories, or taxas:
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Categories/Taxas Example*

Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Pteridophyta

Class Filicopsida

Order Polypodiales

Family Dryopteridaceae

Genus Polystichum

Species setiferum

*Sample classification of a Soft Shield Fern

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 All plants are in the Kingdom Plantae.

 Vascular plants (plants with tissue

specialized for conducting materials)
are all in the Phylum Tracheophyta.

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 There are many Classes, Orders, and
Families of plants. Even though each
plant is categorized using at least
seven names, we call plants by only
their last two scientific names, a
naming system called binomial
nomenclature (which means a two-
name system of identifying).
– This classification system was developed
by Carolus Linnaeus and uses Latin
terms to name plants
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 The two names that we use for the scientific
names of plants are the Genus name,
which is always capitalized, and the
species name which is always lower case
(e.g. Solanum melongena)
 The genus is a group of plants that are very
similar to each other. The species is a group
of plants that are so similar that they usually
mate freely with each other in the wild.
Plants are also called by common names,
but those names are specific for language
and geographic location. Scientific names
are specific and remain the same across
languages and borders. Although it is the
Aubergine in Afghanistan, the plant is
Solanum melongena everywhere on Earth.

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 What Are Some Ways That We
Can Put Plants Into Groups?
 The plant kingdom has become
successful all over the Earth. They
have done so by adapting to a wide
variety of different conditions and
niches. The following are some of the
major groups of plants.
– Bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and
angiosperms
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Bryophytes
 Belong to the phylum
Bryophyta
Liverwort
 Non-vascular plants
– No conducting tissues
 Live in damp places
 Limited in size due to
lack of conducting
tissue
 Ex. Mosses and
Moss
liverworts
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 Ferns
Ferns in the
forest  Vascularplants
 Reproduce by
spores
 Have no true
Fiddleheads
leaves; Only fronds
 Fronds produce
food and spores
Spores on  New fronds called
underside of fiddleheads
frond
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 Gymnosperms
 Reproduce with seeds
found in cones Coniferous
evergreen –
 Also known as a conifer
Pinus
 Leaves reduced to scales or contorta
needles
 Most are evergreen – hold
on to their green color year
round
– Ex. Pines, spruce, cedar Deciduous
conifer –
 Some can be deciduous-
lose their leaves Ginkgo
– Ex. Ginkgo, larch biloba
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Angiosperms
 Plants that reproduce by flowers
 There are two types: monocotyledons
(monocots) & dicotyledons (dicots)
 A cotyledon is a food storage structure in
the seed.
– Monocots have a single cotyledon
 Ex. Grasses, maize and lilies
– Dicots have two cotyledons
 Ex. Roses, petunias, cranesbill, and beans

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 Angiosperms - Monocot
Orchid – Paphiopedilum curtisii
 Have flower parts
(sepals, petals, stamens,
pistils) in multiples of
three
– 3, 6, 9…
 Parallel venation
within the leaves
 Stems with scattered
vascular bundles
 Narrow leaves
 Fibrous root system
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Angiosperms - Dicot
 Flower parts are in
multiples of 4’s or
5’s
– 4,12,16 or 5, 10, 15
 Netted veins
 Vascular bundles
are in rings around
the stem Hibiscus sp.

 Have broad leaves

 Taproot system
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Monocot vs. Dicot

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 What Is the Difference Between
Annuals, Biennials and Perennials?
 Plants are often classified based on
their life cycles
 Even though gymnosperms and
angiosperms reproduce by seed, there
are different strategies for passing the
seeds on to future generations

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 Annuals
 Plants grow from seed,
flower, produce new
seeds all in one
season
 It dies after producing
new seeds
 Have an herbaceous
stem – green & fleshy
– Ex. petunias, zinnias,
Zinnia- Zinnia elegans and maize

See life cycle 17

Biennials Foxglove – Digitals purpurea

 Plants that live for

two years, then
flower and die
 Food is produced
during the first year,
flowers the second
year
– Ex. Foxglove and
carrots

See life cycle 18

 Perennials
 Plants that live for
three or more years
 Flower for a short time
 Do not die after
flowering
 Perennials do not
usually have a
predetermined age of
death, some living for
three or four years,
some for over 1000
 Can be herbaceous or
woody – having thick
stems made of wood
– Ex. Tulips, Irises, and
Tulip- Tulipa hybrid trees and shrubs

See life cycle 19

Back to Annuals

Germination----Growth---Flowering----Death

Back to Perennials

Germination---- Growth---Flowering----Dormancy
One or more flowering cycles
Back to Biennials

Germination---Growth---Dormancy---Growth---Flowering---Death
Season 1 Season 2 20
 Summary
 What is the difference between an
angiosperm and a gymnosperm?
 How is a monocot different from a
dicot?
 Are evergreens herbaceous or woody
plants?

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 Summary Cont.
 What makes up the scientific name of a
plant?
 Why are scientific names written in Latin?

 In what group would you find mosses?

Describe their habitat.
 Describe the life cycle of a perennial.

 Name all 7 taxas in the classification

system.

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